I'll Be There for You
by AkiraDawn
Summary: What Fang wants, Fang gets. Seven friends who do everything together, something is bound to go terribly wrong.
1. The One With the Conversation Hearts

I'll Be There for You

This is a collab between myself and my friend SurfaceMemory (we have a couple other collabs as well). This is our take on the FFXIII group as if they were the cast of the tv show 'Friends'.

Neither of us own Final Fantasy XIII, it belongs to Square Enix

* * *

"This one says Sexy Thing." she tossed it aside and picked up another one. "This one says Be My Bitch." she tossed it aside. "This one says Fine Ass." she picked up another one. "This one says..." Lightning cut her off.

"Would you stop making up phrases on the candy hearts!"

"And this one says I'm Lightning and I'm no fun." Fang said. Just then the door burst open and in rushed Serah Farron looking more than simply disheveled.

"My stupid boyfriend just broke up with me!" she whimpered as she stormed over to the couch.

"'ere, this one says tough shit." Fang said handing a candy heart over to Serah.

"Fang!" Lightning scolded her as she put her arms around Serah.

"Well if it makes yeh feel any better, I didn't like that kid much anyway. Bloody douchebag." Fang muttered before popping a candy heart into her mouth and returning her attention to the TV Screen before her.

"But I really liked him! All week he was so nervous around me! I thought for sure he was gonna pop the question!" Serah wailed into Lightning's arms, the door to the apartment was pulled open again as Vanille came crashing in.

"Serah! Are you okay? I saw you run right by me! What did Firion do to you?" she asked running towards the already full couch, jumping over the back and squeezing herself between Lightning and Fang.

"What the hell! Can't ya see I'm tryin' to do stuff!" Fang muttered amidst this crowded couch.

"Fang! This is important!" Vanille said.

"No I'm not okay! It's Firion…he said he found a rose more beautiful than I." Serah wailed. Fang groaned.

"Translated, that means I'm fuckin' someone else. See? It says it right here on this heart." Fang said before crunching it violently. Lightning sighed.

"As much as I hate to admit this, Fang might be on to something." She said as she attempted to console her sister.

"What am I gonna do! I thought things were going so well!" Serah sulked.

"You know, I didn't think Firion was capable of cheating." Lightning muttered as she looked over Serah and at her two other friends. "He was such a nice boy."

"More like a dumbass." Fang grumbled as she crushed three more hearts between her teeth. "I mean, what's wrong with Serah here? Yeah she's short, but that never stopped no one before!"

Serah just wailed even louder, pushing away from Lightning and then clinging onto Vanille. The red head flinched slightly at the unexpected weight change. Lightning frowned slightly.

"Fang call the guys, not like they're doing anything else tonight." Lightning stated.

"Wait! No pity ice cream?" Vanille whined

"This is why I hate Valentine's Day." Lightning muttered.

"Why because there's no ice cream? There's a gallon in the freezer." Fang said picking up the phone. Vanille left Serah's side and darted towards the refrigerator as quickly as she could.

"No, that's not the reason. It's because of this! Look how upset she is! Just because someone out there somewhere made some stupid rule that you have to be with someone on Valentine's Day!" Lightning ranted. Fang placed one of her candy hearts on the table in front of her and crushed it with her fist.

"There's only one cure for a broken heart…" Fang's sentence was interrupted by the door flinging open again.

"Hey, what's going on?" Hope asked as he pulled his coat off.

"…And that is definitely not it." Fang finished her sentence.

"Hey, Firion broke up with Serah!" Vanille said struggling to hold a fist full of spoons and the gallon of ice cream.

"Are you…are you serious! I thought you said you two were in to each and that everything was going so well!" Hope said sitting on the chair beside the couch.

"Hope, what does it mean when a guy tells you he's found a rose more beautiful?" Serah asked.

"Oh, well…clearly he's sleepin' with someone else." Hope said.

"Ha!" Fang exclaimed as she pointed at Lightning and crushed another heart with her fist. Lightning tried to steal the hearts away from Fang, but the woman brandished the cordless phone like a sword in front of her. Serah wailed even louder. Vanille quickly sat back down beside Serah with the ice cream, trying to help distract the younger Farron as Fang and Lightning fought for the right of the hearts.

"Don't worry Serah, it happens a lot, so my dad says. Valentine's Day is still one of the worst ways to break up with someone." Hope said.

"Nope." Vanille shot back, pulling her spoon out of her mouth. "Text messaging break up, that's happened to a friend of mine before, she was pissed." she scooped another spoonful. "She went and slashed all four tires of his beloved car."

"Damn." Fang stopped for a moment to look at Vanille, the girl nodded, giving Lightning the opening to snatch the bag away.

"Yeah? That's not half of it too, she keyed his car too, that's really hard to fix too." Lightning then crushed a handful of candy hearts between her own teeth.

"Remind me to never date any of your friends." Hope muttered to Vanille.

"Hey, which of us would you rather punch?" Snow asked as he and Sazh made their grand entrance into sob fest.

"That's easy. Snow. I'd punch yeh in a heartbeat." Fang answered matter of factly as she reached and strained to get the sugary heart back from Lightning.

"Aww, I wouldn't punch either of you!" Vanille said shoving another spoonful in to her mouth." Lightning rolled her eyes at Vanille and turned her back toward Fang.

"If a guy says he's found a rose more beautiful what does that mean?" Serah asked completely disregarding their question.

"He's sleepin' with someone." Sazh answered quickly.

"Is that a gardening question?" Snow asked.

"Idiot." Lightning mumbled under her breath as she slapped at Fang's hand.

"Why you ask? And what's with the ice cream?" Sazh asked joining everyone else around the couch.

"Serah's boyfriend broke up with her so we're sulking with frozen dairy!" Vanille said happily.

"Oh... oh dear... you poor gal." Sazh muttered as he quickly walked around the couch, he was the eldest of them all, the only one in the group being previously married and having a son of his own. He sat down beside Serah and pulled her into a hug. "Don't worry, Old Man Sazh has ya now."

"So that's why we're all here?" Snow asked idly as he rummaged through the fridge of Lightning's and Serah's shared apartment. "Firion broke up with Serah?"

"Didn't you get the memo when I called ya?" Fang asked, brow raised just slightly as she stared at Snow. "Were you dropped on your head or something?"

"No, just a little buzzed, I was at the Seventh Heaven before I came here. I planned on getting drunk tonight." Snow muttered back as he pulled out a bottle of water. "This day sucks if you don't have a date."

"We're well aware of that Snow." Lightning muttered, Serah was still sobbing slightly and Vanille was the only one eating the ice cream.

"I just don't understand!" Serah cried out once more. "If he was cheating, why did he wait so long? I thought he was gonna pop the question!"

"How long have you two been dating anyway?" Hope asked idly, Serah looked up slightly.

"Since high school."

"Wow…no wonder you thought things were going so well." Hope said feeling himself a bit bummed.

"We should order the Snowy Special. That makes everything better." Snow said still looking through the fridge.

"Snow's right. Serah, I know you're upset sweetie. But what's all the cryin' gonna do? How's that workin' for yeh? I agree with Snow, we order two pizzas and get a hella lot a beer." Fang said.

"That's my girl!" Snow said to Fang finally pulling a can of something out of the fridge.

"I will never be your girl!" Fang said throwing a handful of conversation hearts at Snow.

"Ack! What are you throwing at me? Candy Hearts?" Snow shouted as he picked up the colorful things Fang had thrown at him. Lightning sighed and reached across the couch for the phone as she dialed for pizza. Serah took the time to go to her bedroom to clean herself up.

"Well if it's beer we all want, I'll be the man to go and get it." Sazh stood up and stretched. "I'll be back before you know it." he went to leave but Vanille, still with the ice cream, looked over the back of the couch.

"Hey Sazh, where's Dajh?"

"Over at a friend's. Playdate you know?" the older man grinned before leaving. The group left in the main room of the apartment sat in silent, for the exception of Fang crushing hearts one by one with her teeth. Fang laughed stupidly.

"Playdate. I've had one a those before." She stated

"Fang, you're such a slut." Vanille said.

"Shut up!" Fang snapped at her.

"You know what? One of my best memories of Valentine's Day was when me and my dad surprised my mom with a dinner we cooked ourselves. She was so surprised and she needed a break anyway, you know?" Hope shared sincerely.

"Awww Hope! That's so sweet!" Vanille said. "That's what we should do! We should think about the good things that have happened to us instead of the bad ones!"

"I remember bein' naked and…" Fang started but Lightning cut her off.

"Do you have any holiday memories where your clothes are on!" Lightning asked shaking her head.

"At least I'm not Sazh who starts all of his holiday stories with so I was clipping coupons when…" Fang started, waving her hands around animatedly.

"Hey! He's not even here to defend himself!" Snow shouted sticking up for Sazh.

"Well don't just accuse me of sleepin' 'round! I don't do that!" Fang snapped back and Lightning as she reached out to touch the Farron's chin with two fingers. "Whadda 'bout you Sunshine? You slept with anyone?"

"What makes you think I haven't?" Lightning sneered back, Fang grinned.

"So what was his name?"

"Does it matter?" Lightning asked with eyebrows raised.

"Wait? You mean Lightning isn't a virgin?" Snow asked loudly. "All of this time I thought she was!"

"Snow, you're an idiot." Fang grumbled.

"I told you I wouldn't be long." Sazh said coming through the door.

"We're not done with this!" Fang said pointing a finger at Lightning.

"Serah gets the first bottle!" Vanille said reaching her hands up to Sazh to help him with one of the two bags he had in his hands. She wasted no time emptying the bag and shoving a quickly opened bottle into Serah's hands.

"Here's to your stupid ex-boyfriend!" Vanille said clanging a bottle in to Serah's. That earned a smile from Serah.

"Thanks guys." Serah stated, everyone laughed and chuckled. "I guess days like today is better off being spent with friends rather than stupid boyfriends." she muttered drinking the alcohol. Lightning sat down on the coffee table before the couch as Fang decided to sit beside her with the bag of candy hearts.

"This one says." she started as she pulled it out of the bag. "Friends are better."

She then crushed it between her teeth.

"Do those hearts really say that stuff?" Snow asked Fang seriously as he joined everyone else in the room. Fang just threw another handful at him. "What the…fine just give me a beer, Vanille." Snow muttered.

"You said you were at the bar before you came here. Were you gonna get laid?" Fang asked reaching a hand out toward Vanille.

"I don't know. Probably not. No one hits on me and I don't hit on anyone." He confessed.

"Why not? You're Snow Villiers! Could you be any better looking" Hope said.

"Could you be any more gay?" Fang said throwing a heart at Hope.

"Is that a bottomless bag or something?" Lightning stared at Fang. "You've been working on them all afternoon!" she snatched the bag back only to see that it was still nearly full, and the woman had been throwing them at people too!

"No love, it was just a really full bag when I bought it." Fang grinned as she reached in and pulled out a heart, on the small sugar candy it read 'kiss me' the tanned woman grinned and pecked Lightning on the cheek.

"Now that's gay." Hope muttered.

"You just wish you were old enough to play." Fang grinned.

"So hey, I told you all about my favorite Valentine's Day memory but none of you have told me yours." Hope said not tolerating the taste of beer well. Fang would be taunting him by the end of the night.

"My favorite Valentine's Day was when me and Dajh's momma went on a weekend trip up north to this bed and breakfast." Sazh said shaking his head.

"That is the most random thing I have ever heard in my life!" Snow said.

"I serious! We had been married for almost a year and we were driving back from a family reunion. We saw this place and thought why not stay for a night or two…and so we did." Sazh laughed and shook his head as he opened up his bottle. "Dajh showed up nine months later."

"Aww, I love Dajh! My turn! My turn! Okay, my favorite was when I baked over 100 heart shaped cookies but then since I didn't have pink icing I put green icing on them!" Vanille said giggling.

"Vanille! You did that last year and put yourself into a sugar coma eating so many of them!" Fang shouted back.

"100 of them?" Serah giggled slightly. "You must have been baking for like... ever."

"All day!" Vanille chirped, "So Snow, what about you?"

"Umm." Snow thought for a moment. "I don't think I have one, I usually wake up drunk and alone the next day." he took a swig of his drink. "That's tradition for me. Lightning, your turn." He grinned, the older Farron just pulled out a candy heart from Fang's bag and crushed it.

"I'd rather not say." she muttered softly, Fang nudged her lightly on the side.

"Aww, don't be shy, my best memory? Well I do enjoy doing this." She then crushed the heart in her hands. "But let me tell ya' about this one Valentine's Day…it was crazy. I slept with this hot chick and…naaaaah you all don't wanna hear about this." Fang said laughing.

"Please tell us more. You have my complete attention." Snow told her. Lightning studied Fang carefully. There was a strange look on her face.

"Hope's too sweet. I can't go pollutin' his mind." Fang said.

"Fine! I'll tell mine then." Serah said. "Aww…it involves Firion though." She said feeling down again.

"No! You have to tell one that's not him." Hope said.

"Hmmm…let me think about that." She said. There was a knock at the door. It was certainly the pizza.

"I'll get it!" Snow said not wasting any time getting up and rushing the door.

"I wonder what happens if I put one of these hearts in his beer?" Fang asked as she experimented with Snow's drink.

"You say beer funny." Hope said rather stupidly. What he was only three-quarters through one beer and he was already buzzed! "Say it again!" he giggled.

"Beeeeeer." Fang sung; Lightning could feel her skin tingle a little when Fang said it.

"Move ladies." Snow said shooing Lightning and Fang off the table to make room for the pizzas.

"I'll get some paper towels." Sazh offered.

"Do we need coasters?" Lightning asked.

"No. Why would we need coasters?" Snow asked.

"I don't want any rings left anywhere." Lightning said.

"This one is supreme and this one is pepperoni." Snow said.

"You guys…I'm a virgin." Hope said out of absolutely nowhere.

"Okay, Hope…we'll come back to that. But first…ooooooh Etro!" Snow shouted.

"Damn, he is drunk after one beer. Someone get him another one." Serah said more than amused by this.

"How old are you now Hope? 19? You're just a couple years younger than Serah right?" Fang asked. "And you haven't slept with anyone? Damn to be a virgin durin' ya high school prom, depressin'." Fang sighed as she took a slice of pizza. Then she looked over to Lightning, pulling out a heart that stated 'Be Mine'. Lightning took the heart from Fang's hand and crushed it.

"Anyway Lightning." Hope was leaning too far to the side, he was going to fall of the chair soon. "What's your story?" Lightning sighed.

"Well um…it was last year. I was away at…a military training thing and…that was when I met and kinda'…fooled around with Cid Raines." Lightning admitted.

"This heart says we're gonna need more details than that." Fang said narrowing her eyes at Lightning.

"It was just so…it all happened so fast. One minute me and Cid were partners for a drill and the next minute we were…you know…more. Then before I knew it we were dating!" Lightning said seemingly frustrated with herself.

"Wait, that can't count as your best Valentine's Day memory because you and Cid eventually broke up." Serah said.

"Sure it can. Just because we broke up doesn't mean there were some good times in between." Lightning muttered.

"Are you saying that Valentine's Day last year was a good time?" Fang asked narrowing her eyes at Lightning.

"I must admit…that it was a good time." Lightning said staring at the floor.

"So why did you break up?" Vanille asked, just finishing off the ice cream. Lightning sighed.

"Told him about my... preferences, he didn't… he... he didn't approve of them, he left... haven't spoken to him since." Lightning then grabbed a handful of hearts and crushed them. "I haven't bothered with relationships since."

"Depressin'" Fang sighed as she drank her beer. "Stupid wanker, if he truly loved you, it shouldn't matter what your bloody preferences are anyway..." she narrowed her eyes and leaned closer to Lightning. "What is your preference anyway Lightning?"

"I'd rather not say." Farron muttered and ate her pizza. "Should we rent a movie for tonight?"

"Hey!" No changing the subject!" Fang shouted out.

"I bet you're into something really crazy that not even Cid could handle." Sazh said. Lightning couldn't help but crack a bit of a smile. Oh if Sazh only knew.

"Back to this movie thing. Yes! We should rent something!" Vanille said happily.

"No! That means one of us has to go rent it." Snow said.

"Not really. We have plenty of stuff we haven't seen in forever." Serah said.

"Let's watch the video of Lightning's 21st birthday party! Oh yeah! That video is so great!" Snow said.

"No!" Lightning said emphatically.

"Yes! Please!" Fang said as Snow got up to get it.

"Bloody Maker!" Lightning groaned shoving her face into her palm.

"You guys still make home movies?" Hope slurred before falling off his seat laughing.

"We're not watching that!" Lightning shouted, tackling Serah to the ground when she got up to go get the stash of recorded videos with Snow. "Please!"

"Nuuu! Today was my breakup! I can watch what I wanna watch!"

"And this one says; let the girl have her way." Fang stated as she pulled out yet another heart and crunched down on it. "It can't be that bad Lightning."

"Fang, you were just as drunk as I was during that party." Lightning sneered. Fang laughed stupidly.

"Yeah I was!" she answered.

"Fang what the hell did you do to my beer!" Snow asked as he and Serah returned with a small box.

"Oh I had completely forgotten about that. Relax love; I just spiked it a bit." Fang said.

"Here we go Lightning's….Hope are you okay?" Snow asked him.

"I'm fine." Hope answered as he rolled around a bit in the floor.

"Here Hope. This heart is for you. It says lightweight virgin." Fang said laughing.

"Fang you're a bitch." Sazh said.

"I speak truths!" Fang shouted. "Oh! This is starting! Damn I had forgotten it opened with Cid kissing Lightning like that. Shit…that was one pretty boy…and says a lot comin' from me." Fang said as she looked at Lightning. She knew there was more to this story of Cid and Lightning…and she was going to get to the bottom of it.


	2. The One with the Hangover

Hope had successfully passed out in the chair from being an unseasoned drinker. Snow and Sazh had retired to Snow's apartment for an extreme foosball tournament while Vanille had talked Serah into coming to her's and Fang's apartment to just unload everything that was on the young Farron's mind. It would make for a good confession sessions since both Serah and Vanille had already had plenty to drink. As for Fang, she decided to stay with Lightning. Together they had finished the home movie of Lightning's 21st birthday party and were now on to something else.

"So… about Cid..." Fang started slowly, Lightning looked at the tanned woman.

"What about Cid?" she asked.

"Kinda' tight lipped about 'im aren't ya, love?" Fang asked scooting in closer to her.

"There's nothing to tell. It's like I said…we have a difference in preferences." Lightning muttered, crossing her arms.

"But you two were together for…like…I don't know…a while?" Fang asked.

"Yeah, we were together for about eight months….and…you know…things happen." Lightning took a quick drink of what was left of her beer.

"What kinda things happened?" Fang persisted.

"Well, things just don't work out sometimes, Fang. You know that." Lightning said sounding a bit irritated with her. Fang narrowed her eyes.

"This one says…Lightning's hiding something from Miss Fang." She badgered. Lightning sighed and jerked the stupid bag of hearts out of Fang's hand. She was glaring at her now.

"Why do you do this?" Farron snarled at her, narrowing her eyes, Fang just grinned at her.

"Do what?" Fang asked all smiles; moving even closer to Lightning on the couch.

"Can't you tell I would rather not talk about this! Don't you know enough about me and Cid? Why don't you…" Fang stopped Lightning mid-sentence.

"I wanna hear you say it. I wanna hear you say that you and Cid broke up because Cid saw you make out with another girl at a bar one night and it freaked him the hell out." Fang said. Her eyes were practically sparkling right out of her head. Lightning squeezed the hearts and pursed her lips a bit.

"I didn't know you knew about that." She mumbled, irritated that Fang knew too much.

"Miss Fang knows allll!" Fang said waving her hands mystically in front of Lightning's face. That did nothing to irritate Lightning any less. "So…tell me 'bout it. Since you now know that I know why don't you talk?" Lightning didn't' say anything. "Were you drunk?" Fang asked. There was still no response. "Did you make out with Cid too?" Still nothing. "Was she hot and…"

"Okay! Okay! Okay! Bloody Maker of Creation! You win!" Without thinking Lightning sent the bag of candy hearts soaring into the wall, little sugary bits flying everywhere. It was a wonder that didn't wake Hope. He must have been really gone.

"Fang, one. Lightning, nothin'." Fang said licking her finger and touching it to her shoulder while she made a sizzling sound. Lightning was clearly not amused.

"It was…I don't know…like a couple months ago." Lightning began. "Cid and I had been together for a while and one night we were at this bar and I had a little too much to drink. I was drunker than I had normally been with Cid and as the night went on I…well I kept looking at this woman. I couldn't take my eyes off of her. So, I drank a little more and before I knew it I had gone over to her and we were talking…" Lightning stopped talking but Fang was staring at her with fire in her eyes.

"Well, don't stop there!" Fang insisted.

"We were talking and talking but then we…we ended up in a corner with…with our lips all over each other." Lightning said softly as if the passed out Hope might hear her. Fang squealed like a school girl.

"Shut up!" Lightning hissed at her. "Cid, found me…with her and the fact that we had our lips tangled and our hands wandering. He...he couldn't believe what he was seeing and not in a good way either." Lightning paused. Fang was scooting closer to her and sneaking an arm behind Lightning's shoulders. Her chin was over Lightning's shoulder. "The next day we had the biggest fight of all fights in the universe and I told him that kissing her was better than anything he had ever done for me…or to me." Lightning couldn't help but smile faintly at the thought. She looked sideways at Fang only to be surprised by how close the Pulsian devil had gotten to her. Lightning's nose nearly touched Fang's at this point and Lightning could Feel Fang's breath on her cheek.

"I bet I could do better." Fang's voice was hushed. Fang leaned in ever so slightly.

"Shit…where is everyone? I need…some water." Hope suddenly awoke in a panic as he flailed around in his chair.

"Damn you, Hope…" Fang mumbled through gritted teeth. She wished she had one of her hearts with a threatening message on it to throw at Hope.

**FFXIII**

Across the hall an extremely drunken foosball tournament was well under way. "Sazh, Sazh, Sazh…you just scored three points for my side!" he told Snow.

"No, I didn't!" Snow insisted.

"Yes you did! We changed colors, man! I'm red now and you're blue. You just scored points for red." Sazh shouted half yelling at the same time.

"Sazh….dude….you're black." Snow told him. It sent Sazh into a fit of laughter.

"Man, the players are only red and blue….where you getting' this black thing?" Sazh asked.

"My god, I am so confused right now…we should have another beer." Snow said.

"That is a great idea." Sazh agreed. "So Snow, why are you without a date tonight?"

"Why would I be _with _one?" Snow asked.

"It's just unusual that you weren't with someone tonight." Sazh said.

"I…I don't know it's just…I've been thinking about this girl a lot lately and I've been kinda' hung up on her." Snow admitted.

"Yeah? Who is it?" Sazh asked.

"I can't say. I know you're one of my best friends and all but I'm just not ready to talk about it." Snow said.

"I bet I can get you to talk about it after two more beers." Sazh said punching him in the arm. Snow just laughed.

"Hey do you think…nah…never mind." Snow reconsidered going any farther.

**FFXIII**

The next morning was a silent one. Of course any morning when Fang wasn't up gallivanting around was a quiet one. Hope had been asleep in a most uncomfortable position and didn't show any signs of waking up. Fang and Lightning had fallen asleep on the couch and they were tangled underneath a quilted throw. Serah and Vanille had just returned from a morning coffee and a brisk walk. As they barged in to the apartment, they were surprised to find Hope, Fang and Lightning. The opening of the door startled Hope from a deep slumber.

"I didn't do it!" he semi-yelled in his hung-over and startled state.

"Aww, of course you didn't sweetie." Vanille said putting her hand in the middle of his head and tossing his hair around even more so than it already was.

"Looks like you had a rough night." Serah told him. Hope just blinked a few times, having no idea what to say. He just felt sick.

"You don't look so great. How about some toast or something?" Serah asked him completely not noticing her sleeping sister and the Pulsian on the couch.

"Okay…I'll just lay here." Hope said slumping back down into the chair. Chances were he would fall back asleep by the time the toast popped up.

"Vanille? What are you doing?" Serah asked.

"I'm petting Fang's fur! It's so soft and silky!" Vanille said excitedly.

"Fang's still here?" Serah asked.

"She is and….good moooooorning Fang!" Vanille answered but was soon sidetracked by Fang glaring at her with viper eyes.

"You…annoy the hell outta' me…" Fang said before quickly flipping over as Vanille couldn't reach her pelts. She buried her head underneath the quilt but all the squirming woke Lightning. She wiggled a bit and opened her eyes only to discover Vanille sitting innocently on the floor toward the end of the couch.

"Vanille?" Lightning asked slowly, struggling to sit up, realizing that there was a certain weight on her lap.

"Sorry, love. I'm between yer' legs." Fang said winking at Lightning as she thrashed around until she was sitting up as to free Lightning from beneath her.

"That was…an odd way to wake up." Lightning mumbled rubbing her eyes and pushing herself up.

"Which part? Vanille petting my pelts or me between yer' legs?" Fang asked laying her head on the back of the couch.

"Well…both…kind of." Lightning said still trying to wake up.

"Okay Hope, come on. Let's wake up." Serah said trying to coax Hope awake with the temptation of toast slathered with strawberry preserves. Serah's efforts were interrupted by Sazh barging through the door looking like something the cat dragged in.

"Hey…man…I need aspirin and bad." He announced. "Hope? What the hell wrong with you boy? You look like you been drinkin' all night." He said beginning to search the kitchen cabinets for aspirin.

"Why my kitchen? What about yours?" Serah protested.

"Because, you have the big apartment." Sazh said.

"Still you should have your own meds." Serah sighed. "They're under the bathroom sink."

"You mean they were until me and Snow tried a science experiment with them. In case you're wondering…it didn't end well." Sazh said finding the aspirin in the cabinet beside the refrigerator.

"Where the hell is your son, father of the year?" Fang asked as she let the blood rush to her head as it slumped over the back of the couch.

"Remember? He had a play date last night. He spent the night. Imma gonna pick him up today." Fang laughed a part exhausted, part devious laugh.

"Play date. I like it when you say that, Sazh. I knew I kept ya' 'round here for a reason." She smiled.

"There you go Hope, just wake up and take the toast." Serah said finally getting Hope awake.

"I hate that guy in the other building that sings!" Snow was less than thrilled as he came inside.

"Aw, come on! I love that guy!" Sazh said. "He's always so happy in the morning!"

"Well, I would be a lot happier if he would shut the hell up. Is that toast?" Snow had zoned in on the toast that poor Hope was so desperately trying to eat. Serah laughed.

"Do you want some toast? I mean…since I have this toaster fired up and all." Serah asked.

"Sure, why not." Snow said. Serah smiled. She put two more pieces in the toaster for Snow. She would never say it out loud but she thought he was fine.

"It will be done in a minute or so." she told him.

"Hey, Lightning…this one says good morning sunshine." Fang laughed. Lightning rolled her eyes since Fang had crawled across the floor to get the bag of stupid candy hearts.

"Are you still at it with those?" Lightning asked.

"Well…yeah? Why not. Here…ya' want one?" Fang extended a pink heart toward Lightning. It was far too early to be assaulting the body with sugar but Fang didn't care. Lightning glared at Fang, took the heart from her hand and chucked it across the room while shaking her head.

"You're no fun in the morning." Fang said. "How can I possibly make you more fun in the morning?" Fang winked at Lightning. She just shook her head again.

"Sazh…what the hell are you doing" And where did you get that cigar?' Serah asked nearly force-feeding Hope.

"What?" I look like a cool black man with this, right" Sazh asked.

"Sazh….you're holding a spatula and looking in to it…pretending to be cool….not cool." Serah muttered.

"Aww, come on Serah." Sazh said admiring himself." She just sighed and shoved a plate of toast over the table toward Snow.

"Rrright." The younger Farron muttered as she shook her head, turning away from the scene with Sazh and the cigar, where he had gotten it, she didn't know. By now both Fang and Lightning were sitting up on the couch. "You two gonna eat?"

"Mmm… no not right now." Lightning responded, Serah waited for Fang's answer but didn't get anything from the other woman. The younger Farron watched as Fang leaned closer to Lightning.

"Come on Light, let's go out, I'm not up for toast with this group." She muttered, grabbing Lightning's hand and sitting up from the couch. The confused Farron didn't say anything as Lightning lead her out.

"Where are you two going?" Serah asked as she started going through the fridge for more food.

"There isn't enough for Light and I with the rest of the group! We're gonna go out! Later!" Fang grinned, stating that far too quickly as the door slammed behind them, everyone stared at the door.

"Hands up for those who think Fang's trying to get into Light's pants." Sazh muttered, raising his hand.


	3. The One with Answer B

Quiet afternoons were always Serah's favorite. The constant hustle and bustle that Lightning and the rest of their friends proved to prefer tended to get too tiring. Serah was just about to settle down for an afternoon of chips, soda and the newest disc season of her favorite Thursday night drama when Vanille came in with a rather... interesting magazine in hand.

"_You know you've always wondered, right?"_ Vanille had giggled when she had sat down beside Serah not but an hour ago, that lead them into the situation they were in now. The two of them sitting on the couch studying this rather unusual magazine as if it was something they had never seen before, although either of the girls were embarrassed, unless they got caught.

That's when the door opened.

The two squeaked and fumbled with the magazine, Vanille sitting on it as they looked over to the door, hoping that it wasn't one of the men; Lightning wasn't due back for several hours.

"Wha'dup?" Fang asked as she closed the door behind her, the two younger girls relaxed.

"It's just you Fang." Vanille giggled as she whipped the magazine back out, that's when the older woman got curious. She moved in closer, like a hunter on the prowl.

"Is tha' a Playboy?" she asked, the two girls, neither of them looking guilty, nodded, Yun sat herself right down beside Vanille. "Who bought it?"

"Found it in Snow's stash." Vanille giggled, why she was over there in the first place was beyond both of them. "The boys can't hide a thing!"

"Actually, we're trying to figure out if there is a story to these pictures or not." Serah muttered, a little more guilt in her voice than Vanille. The redhead giggled and turned the page. "Like here, was she enjoying herself in the ocean then got hit by a wave?" Vanille asked, they turned the page and Fang frowned.

"Don't think so." Fang muttered, the two girls chuckled; freezing when they heard footsteps outside, but it was a neighbor.

"Oh!" Vanille squeaked after another handful of pages. "If one of us had to date another, who would it be?" she asked, grinning all the way, Serah frowned.

"I... I don't know."

"Me neither!" Vanille chirped, leaving Fang to answer, both of them looked at her.

"Lightnin'." Fang stated as if it was the most obvious thing the two girls looked at each other and giggled slightly.

"So how was breakfast?" Vanille asked slowly, Fang huffed.

"Horrible, stupid Farron was immune to every Oerba Yun Fang charm I put on!" she crossed her arms and legs at the same time, looking like a little child pouting on the couch. "I mean, she dated Cid! Cid! Of all people! He's got as much emotion as a loaf of sliced bread!"

"Yeah, but he's military, Lightning is military too."

"See that's the problem! That's frat…. frat… whatever the fuck it is that soldiers shouldn't be doing with each other!" Fang shouted standing up. "Know what, fuckit, I'm takin' a shower." She stormed off to the bathroom in the Farron's apartment, the girls frowned.

"Your apartment is across the hall Fang."

"I DON'T GIVE A BLOODY RAT ASS!" Fang shouted as the door slammed, the two girls sighed as Serah closed the Playboy. Vanille was giggling, knowing what was exactly going through the younger Farron's mind.

"Shall we head back to your place?" Serah asked, a certain glint in her eye. "Lightning should be back soon, we wouldn't want to face the… wrath of both Claire and Fang in the same… room… would we?" she asked, trying her hardest not to laugh, Vanille nodded quickly.

Translation: Let's get outta here so when Lightning get's home, she might get to see Fang naked, alone.

"Actually, I should get my laundry done… so I'm going to do that first then meet up with you later, okay?" the younger Farron smiled, Vanille nodded as the two girls split, leaving Fang the apartment all to herself.

**FFXIII**

It was a mountain of clothes and Snow was staring at it as if it had already conquered him. There was a large bottle of detergent, a box of fabric sheets and of course…the Mount Everest of laundry. He could hardly see over the top of it. Somehow, he blamed Hope for this but he didn't have a good reason for doing so.

"Snow? Snow? Oh my gosh, what are you doing here? Do you…do laundry here normally?" Serah asked plopping a basket of laundry beside him.

"Huh? Wha…hey…Serah. No, I don't. I never do any stupid laundry! Would you look at all this freakin' laundry!" Snow said on the verge of a panic. Serah laughed.

"Are you telling me that you've _never _done laundry on your own? Serah asked. Snow shrugged

"What can I say? I'm spoiled." Snow laughed at himself. Serah smiled.

"Well, here let me help you out. Okay, first things first. You want to separate your delicates from your normal wash clothes. You also need to separate the colors from the whites" Serah said moving over closer to Snow.

"Here's a semi-blue towel!" Snow said holding up the first piece of laundry.

"That's normal wash and a color." Serah assured him.

"What, about this! What about this! It's colored and white! What do we do!" Snow panicked. Serah laughed at him.

"It's okay. That's part of a mixed load." Serah said.

"This is insane!" Snow said. "Who would have ever thought there would be all these laundry rules!" Serah laughed

"Now let's just get your first load of laundry started in this…" Serah was startled by the sight of some unruly woman who had just helped herself to the machine that Snow's laundry was piled on top of.

"Excuse me, ma'am…my friend here was about to use that machine. His laundry was on top of it." Serah said politely.

"You know the rules pinky. If it ain't runnin' it ain't yours!" she snapped.

"It's okay Serah, we'll just find another…" Serah cut Snow off.

"No, no we won't! Those aren't the rules and you know it!" Serah scolded the woman. "Now unload all your crap so we can proceed!"

"I'd like to see you try and make me move." She challenged. Serah did the only possible thing she could think to do. She flicked the woman.

"Did…did you just _flick _me! She demanded.

"Yuh huh. I sure did!" Serah said.

"Why you little…" The woman lunged for Serah but she moved which only caused her to run in to Snow and then fall over into a laundry basket. Serah proceed to throw the woman's laundry on top of her.

"Serah! You did it! You took down…evil laundry lady!" Snow said reaching his arms out to Serah. She laughed and threw her arms around him. She didn't think anything of it until she found herself a bit nervous; nervous because she had always pictured hugging Snow in her mind…but this was real.

"Okay! So uh…let's get your laundry started!" Serah finally said letting go of Snow. It was apparent by the sheer volume of laundry that they would be here for a while.

**FFXIII**

_"Somethin's goin' on that's not quite clear."_ Sazh hummed to himself as he opened the door to the Farron's apartment with a certain beat to his step. _"We're gonna have a party."_ he was half singing half humming; he didn't really know all the lyrics as he kicked off his shoes and hung up his jacket. _"Oh whatta feelin' when we're dancin' on the ceilin'!"_ he spun once in the kitchen as he stopped in front of the fridge, still moving his body to the invisible beat.

Bending down to peer into the fridge he kept humming as he moved his body moving bottles and other stuff through the fridge. _"Dancin' on the ceiling'" _he stated again as he found what he was looking for, the moment he stood up with some lunch meats in hand he saw Fang who had just walked out of the shower. They stared at one another….then they screamed.

Fang spun around and grabbed her sari that was draped on the couch as she glared at Sazh. "Ya just walk in here? What? Don't knock or anythin'? What the fuck is wrong with ya man?" Fang shouted as Sazh held his hands up.

"The door was unlocked, usually that means Serah's home, she doesn't care!"

"She's she ain't here! I'm here! I care!"

Fang continued her pointless shouting as Sazh held his hands up to his eyes.

"I'm sorry! Sorry!" with that he ran, leaving Fang in a huff.

Fang rolled her eyes and walked back into the bathroom to get her other things, when she heard the front door open again, pulling on her top and underwear she stomped back out.

"I swear Sazh if you're triyn' to... Lightnin'?"

"Fang?"

The two women stared at each other for a moment, Lightning blushed slightly as a sly grin appeared on Fang's face.

"Like what you see Sunshine? Shoulda shown up thirty seconds earlier."

"So that's why Sazh was so read faced?"

The expression on Fang's face disappeared instantly.

**FFXIII**

Now that Snow and Serah had their laundry in the dryers it was only appropriate that they were sitting on a bench outside of the building watching the traffic pass. It was much better than sitting in that dreadful laundry room waiting on it. Thank goodness a bagel shop was nearby. "That's so stupid, Serah. They have sixteen flavors of cream cheese….and you order plain." Snow teased her.

"Oh yeah? Well…they also have thirty flavors of bagels and you ordered honey wheat!" Serah fought him but couldn't help but laugh.

"It's a combination of the sweetness of honey and the wholesomeness of wheat." Snow insisted.

"Whatever." Serah muttered.

"So, uh…what uh…what are you getting into this weekend?" Snow asked her.

"Huh? Oh…uh…I don't know really. I don't think I have too many plans." Serah answered. Snow shook his head.

"Um…do you think that…that maybe…if you're not busy or something…maybe we could…err…you'd like to…." Snow stumbled over his words and couldn't finish because a squeaky Vanille came rushing outside.

"Hey! Heeeeeey! Snow! Serah! I see you over there! I wanna join!" she yelled.

**FFXIII**

Hope chewed on the end of a pen as he carefully examined the magazine in front of him. He seemed to be studying the pages carefully. He was in deep thought. He circled an answer but then quickly scribbled out his answer and circled a different answer.

"Should I...hrm... damnit!" he heard Fang mutter to herself just outside the door before it was thrown open, Fang storming in, Hope jumped up in his seat stammering excuses. The tanned woman walked up to the bathroom door, hovered around it for a minute before swearing and groaning. She stormed back out.

"Who's home?"

"Ju-ju-juuu..." Hope gasped. "Just me."

"Damn!"

"Wh…wha…what did you need Fang? I'm just…you know….just sitting here minding my own business not bothering anyone….just sitting here."

"Ah! I spot a girly magazine!" Fang grinned as she leaned over and pulled the magazine out that Hope was sitting on. "Oh, haven't bought me wanna these in a while!" she paused for a moment then stared at Hope. "You were doin' the quiz!"

"Yeah? So? I was doin' the quiz…I can do quizzes you know. I can...learn and participate…in quizzes!" Hope clumsily defended himself. He was tapping his pen repeatedly on his knee; nervous that Fang had taken the magazine from him.

"Right..." Fang muttered as she flipped through the pages. "Let's see... How often are ya game to try different sex positions?" she muttered running her finger over the page.

"Hey! You can't just read that out loud! And stop looking at my answers!" Hope said reaching up and trying to snatch the magazine back from Fang. Fang successfully dodged his poor attempts at retrieving his tabloid. Fang laughed stupidly at the next question.

"Come on Hope! B? You seriously put B! How the hell would yeh even know! Ya' got no frame of reference!" Fang insisted.

"Stop reading my answers out loud!" Hope said still trying to reach up in the air for his beloved quiz. Fang turned around and read the quiz out loud some more.

"During sex you are A. silent and deadly B. a loud and rowdy lover, C. conservative." Fang read the question and the answers out loud. "Hope! What the…you can't answer that! You don't even know what you….you'd be a C…a total C. You could never be a B." Fang insisted.

"FANG!" Hope squealed, blushing like a mad man. Fang grinned as she did a small spin in the room.

"That's right! Imma loud 'n rowdy…that's B in case ya forgot!"

"You can't read the questions out loud! And I can guess! You have no soul Fang!" Hope spun around in his chair and grabbed his magazine back finally.

"Take it back boomerang boy! A, C, C, B, A, A, B, B! There! Now, that's the RIGHT way to answer those questions! What you got there is…just a buncha silly little boy answers!" Fang said.

The moment she did a pelvic thrust Lightning and Sazh walked into the apartment. She froze.

"It's not what ya think... I swear..." Fang muttered.


	4. The One With the Cheesecake

Fang laughed to herself as she held her fork in the air like a weapon. She slammed it violently into the creamy desert before her. "OH! Hell to the yeah! That's the shit I'm talkin' about! Like a creamy little orgasm in a graham cracker crust. Yes, yes that's it…say my name bitch…say my name!" Leave it to Fang to turn cheesecake into a dirty escapade. She indulged in a bite while the door opened.

"Hey, you gotta come try this! It's the best fackin' cheesecake I've ever eaten in my life!" she told Lightning emphatically.

"Oh, that's okay. I'll pass. I'm really not that much into…." Lightning's frantic mumbling was interrupted by Fang shoving a forkful of cheesecake into her mouth. Fang watched the look on Lightning's face turn from shock to bliss.

"Oh my god! It's so creamy and smooth and…" Lightning mumbled as she swallowed it.

"Just like the inside of my thighs." Fang said stabbing the fork into the cheesecake again. "Come on, get a fork and join me."

Lightning hesitated slightly before she pulled a fork from the drawer and walked over to sit beside Fang. She took a forkful and savored the taste, humming slightly as the cheese melted on her tongue. Fang grinned as she watched the expression of bliss on the older Farron's face. It didn't last long as she set the fork down.

"Fang where did you get this?"

"I picked it up on the way home."

"Where?"

Fang hesitated slightly.

"Lebreau's."

"She bakes?"

"Doorstep."

"So you stole it." Lightning narrowed her eyes as Fang meekly smiled.

"I wouldn't say steal it per se, it was hot out and late in the afternoon. It was gonna go bad otherwise." Lightning sighed.

"That's how you justify stealing a cheesecake from… wait… why would Lebreau have a cheesecake on her doorstep?" she asked.

"I don't know! Maybe she… maybe she bought it while grocery shopping and forgot to take it inside!" Fang said as she watched Lightning pick at part of the cheesecake. Fang was shoveling it in like a crazy person while Lightning did more examining of it than anything.

"That doesn't make any sense. Still, who puts a cheesecake on their doorstep?" Lightning was still trying to figure all of this out.

"Again, I dunno. Finder's keepers." Fang muttered with the fork in her mouth. Lightning sighed and inspected the box, finding it postmarked and mailed out to Lebreau.

"She bought the cheesecake!" Lightning said, pointing to the label.

"I hope she buys another one. I'd gladly stalk her doorstep for another one of these lil' beauties." Fang said.

"Great, now I have to worry about you developing a cheesecake theft habit." Lightning rolled her eyes.

"Aww, you worry 'bout me, love?" Fang asked licking her fingers.

"You could say that. I worry about your judgment!" Lightning scolded her.

"You wanna know what I worry about? Fang shot wild eyes at Lightning.

"No, no, no. I can tell by that look in your eyes it's nothing even halfway innocent." She said stabbing the cheesecake once more.

Lightning rolled her eyes and stood up. She didn't get far - the door opened and Serah walked in followed closely by Vanille. Fang grinned and waved the girls over.

"Gal's, you gotta try this! Better than what any PlayBoy can give!" She held up her forkful of cheesecake.

"Oooh! Where did you get that?" Vanille asked, plucking Lightning's spoon from the table. She settled down beside Fang and took a bite. Her eyes just lit up. "This is amazing! Where did you get it?"

"More like where did she steal it from." Lightning sighed, crossing her arms.

"Fang! I thought you were over your stealing food phase!" Vanille inquired.

"It was callin' my name. Besides, it was a good deed. This thing was gonna spoil and I saved it!" Fang defended herself.

"That's what you said about all the ham." Vanille reminded her. Fang slammed her fork down.

"Don't you ever speak of ham in such a carefree and frivolous tone!" Fang warned her.

"Okay, but I'm just sayin', it's not normal Fang." She continued.

"Yeah, well neither is Hope's stupid rock collection and you don't hear me slammin' that." She said.

Speaking of Hope, he was across the street attempting to complete a homework assignment but was continuously distracted by Sazh, Snow, and the fact that they simply couldn't play Rock Band to save their lives.

"You take the mike this time!" Sazh insisted as he found himself getting tanged up in a cord.

"No, Sazh. This is a black guy song. You have to do vocals. I'll do drums or guitar but this song has you written all over it." Snow said.

"How the hell is '_I Want You Back'_ a black guy song?" Sazh asked.

"Wait…that group's black….right?" Snow questioned looking more confused than ever.

"Who _N'SYNC_! Hell no, Snow! Get your gay boy bands straight! Ah, who cares. I'll still do vocals even though this isn't a black guy song." Sazh said.

"Can neither of you sing? I'm trying to work here!" Hope shouted out, loudly yanking the mike away from Sazh. "One of you play guitar and the other bass! I can't stand the racket the drums make either!" he fumed.

"You're no fun Hope. Who does homework anyway?" Snow asked.

"Those of us who want to get a decent grade and not get yelled at by their dad!" Hope said. Sazh sighed.

"Dude, it's Friday night, chillax man." With that Hope just gathered his stuff and shoved it into his bag.

"I'm going to Lightning's." Hope left in a huff. Sazh turned to Snow.

"Why don't we play Bob Marley instead?"

"Yeah! Bob Marley!" Snow paused a minute. "Sazh, who exactly is that?" he questioned. Sazh was ashamed that Snow hadn't a clue about the king of rasta.

"Stir it up, little darlin', stir it up…" Sazh sung to Snow. "Yeah? Yeah?" Sazh smiled all over. Snow shook his head.

"No, dude I'm sorry. I'm not cool enough for your black guy music. Wait, is he a black guy?" Snow questioned further.

Sazh just groaned.

**FFXIII**

"My cake!" Fang shouted as she held what was left over of the cheesecake above her head so little Vanille couldn't reach it. Serah was giggling, grabbing her camera phone out as she took photos. Lightning was sitting on the couch, the least amused.

"Share Fang! Please!" Vanille pleaded. There was a knocking on the door, capturing the girl's interest and giving Fang the opening to wolf down the last of the cake. Vanille opened the door to let Hope in.

"Hey! What brings you here?" Serah asked waving at the boy, Hope smiled weakly.

You mind if I work on my homework here? The guys are playing Rockband, you know how they are."

"Don't remind me." Lightning grumbled. Hope sat beside Lightning and flipped his book open.

"Who does homework on a Friday night?" Fang asked. She didn't wait for an answer. "You wanna know what I do on Friday nights? I get into cheesecake."

"Yeah, STOLEN cheesecake." Lightning reminded her.

"Ah, yes, that makes it all the more sweeter. The sweet, sweet taste of socially malevolent acts." Fang said, still holding the cheesecake out of Vanille's reach.

"Just give me one bite at least!" Vanille begged.

"Let me think... no." Fang said as she consumed the last of the cake. "That was amazing stuff! I gotta... get more... later." she wiped her mouth and smiled. Dropping the box, leaving just a little bit left for Vanille to consume, she moved back to the couch, shoving Hope aside to sit between Lightning and the younger boy. "Seriously! Why homework now?"

Hope sighed. "The new Pokémon game comes out Sunday, all this university work is gonna take a while so I wanna have it done so I can spend all day Sunday playing it."

"Yer a looney." Fang muttered staring at the boy, Lightning shook her head slightly.

"Leave the boy be." she muttered, then Fang turned to her.

"Then you'll be my source of attention." Lightning shot her eyes toward Fang who was staring right back at her.

"Do you need any help, Hope?" she asked as she darted her eyes to the floor. Fang was still staring at her.

"Nah, that's okay." He said.

"I could use some help." Fang remarked.

"Oh my god, Snow just sent me a picture of Sazh. He successfully wound himself up in a controller cord and is laying in the floor." Serah said.

"Is that possible with a wireless controller?" Lightning asked, slightly skeptical of the whole thing as Vanille was looking over Serah's shoulder at the image. "I mean... the controllers are wireless now, right?" she looked at Hope, the boy nodded.

"Except the microphone, that's wired."

"That's what he's tangled in." Serah giggled, Lightning just rolled her eyes. Fang frowned and stood up.

"I'm going for a beer run, any requests?"

"Why are you going on a beer run? It seems like we just did that." Lightning asked, resting her head on the back of the couch.

"I'm going because we're out of stuff. Ya' know, you could come along if ya' want. Fang said giving Lightning an excuse to leave. She narrowed her eyes at Fang and for whatever reason, decided going with her would be the best option.

Once Lightning and Fang had left, Serah and Vanille had decided it would be a good idea to head across the street and check on Snow and Sazh. "You like him, don't you?" Vanille asked Serah. "Snow, I mean." Serah tried to hide her smile but her face was turning as pink as her hair as she and Vanille pushed their chairs under the table.

"I don't know. I… I don't know, maybe? I don't know." Serah said completely unconvincingly. I was with Firion for so long and all."

"So you don't want him to think that he's rebound?"

"Basically." Serah admitted.

"But remember, it's Snow. He isn't exactly thinking all the time." Vanille said as she closed the door behind them. Serah laughed.

"You're so mean!"

"I'm sorry but it's true! He's not exactly a genius when it comes to…well almost anything except sandwiches. He's good with sandwiches." Vanille said.

"Yeah but what would Lightning think? I mean, I was with Firion for-ever." Serah said. "She doesn't exactly like Snow but I don't really know why."

"Did she like Firion?" Vanille asked.

"I don't know. She sure put on like she did." Serah's phone made a noise. She looked down at it and laughed.

"He just texted you didn't he?" Vanille asked trying to grab Serah's phone away from her.

"Yeah."

**FFXIII**

"Hey! Hey! You can't do this to me! I'm an honourable customer!" Fang roared as store security tried to usher her out. "Oh! This is because I'm a Pulsian, eh?" she snapped.

"The manager just asked me to see you out miss." The buff man stated, but Fang was clearly stronger than him. Twisting out of his hold she sneered.

"You racist little-"

"Fang!"

Fang stopped struggling when she heard Lightning call her name. The two watched as the soldier jumped the barricade between two cashes and ran up to them, nearly knocking over an elderly lady. "She's with me."

"Sergeant?" the guard asked, he didn't recognize her, but the ranking on her jacket. "But she..."

"She's with me." Lightning snarled, the man released Fang instantly. The Pulsian woman smiled at Lightning while the soldier just stared at the man. "Get lost."

"Sir!" he saluted and quickly disappeared, Lightning sighed as she looked at Fang. "What did you do?"

"I didn't do nothing! I was looking at one thing and the next thing I know the idiot is trying to arrest me!" She threw her hands up in the air. "He wouldn't even let me pay for the stuff!"

"Come on, let's get outta here." Lightning muttered. "Anything you want to get on the way home?" she asked as they left the store.

"II was thinkin' about that cheesecake." Fang grinned. "Can we go get some?"

"You're impossible." Lightning groaned as they crossed the street.

"You know you love me." Fang grinned, causing Lightning to pause slightly. She glanced over at Fang. "What? Am I actually right?"

"I uh… I have a confession. I used to think about you sometimes when… when I was with Cid." Lightning looked the other way as she mumbled the last part.

"What was that love? Are you sayin' that when you were sleepin' with Cid you wanted to be…" Lightning stopped her.

"No! I never said that! I just mean that… sometimes when I was with him… you were on my mind, that's all." Lightning shot her eyes to the pavement.

"Nothin' wrong with that. Bet it's easier to think about me more often without 'im." Fang said.

"You make me nervous sometimes." Lightning admitted.

"Oooh?" Fang quickly walked forward to stand in front of Lightning, she reached out to grab Lightning's hands. "Did I hear that right?" she grinned. "I make the great Lightning Farron nervous?" Lightning jerked her hand away from Fang and looked away, unfortunately her pale complexion couldn't hide her blush, making Fang's grin grow even more.

"I got a confession to make too." Fang muttered. "We should sit down." she lead Lightning to a coffee shop and sat down on the patio. "That night... when you broke up with Cid, do you remember the woman?"

"Are you kidding! I could never forget her." Lightning admitted. Fang smirked.

"Well…you musta'…cause you're lookin' right at 'er." Lightning felt her mouth go dry and her eyes bigger than the moon.

**FFXIII**

"No stupid! The cheat code is Square, Square, Circle, Square, Left, Right, Left, Right, Circle, Up, Right, Down!" Snow shouted.

"Snow! Listen to me, brother! That is NOT the cheat code! You've tried it four times and have we gotten 99 lives on ANY of those four times! NO! We haven't! Clearly, the code is Square, Square, Square, Square, Square, Square, Circle, Up, Circle, Left, Circle, Right, Square!" Vanille and Serah were laughing at these two. Snow shook his head as Sazh tried his version of the cheat code.

"See! Yours didn't work either! Serah, get on the stupid Internet and look up the 99 life cheat code!" Snow told her. She was laughing so hard that she had leaned over against Snow. He put an arm around her.

"Snow, c'mon, it's just a video game!" she wheezed, Snow stared at her in horror.

"This is not just a video game! It's Spyro the Dragon! A Classic!"


	5. The One With the Unicorn Bed

Lightning sat there, a combination of horror and surprise on her face. What Fang had just said... What Fang had done... Was this woman truly the reason why she and Cid Raines had broken up? No, the reason was already there, Fang was just brought it to life sooner. Slowly Farron looked down at the cafe table, unable to look at Fang directly at the moment.

"Light..."

"Why?" was all she could muster.

"I knew you weren't happy with him, that you were looking for someone else, someone better. That night-" she paused. "I was baked, you were drunk, we both did things neither of our sober selves would have done." she reached across the table to hold Light's hands in her own. "There had to be a reason why we did what we did, I think we both know it."

"Fang I can't-" Lightning muttered the tanned woman shook her head. "Please just leave me alone."

"I can't." Fang whispered moving a hand up to touch Lightning's chin, forcing the blonde to look at her. "I won't. You're my friend and I can't let you suffer alone."

Since when had she become so sweet? Lightning wasn't so sure.

"I just want to know, is there a possibility of an 'us' in the future, despite my actions."

Lightning leaned forward slowly, Fang smiled inwardly before Lightning's hand slapped her across the face.

FFXIII

There was a knock at the door. Vanille clapped her hands excitedly and hurried to answer it. She had a peculiar look on her face as she pulled the door open. It obviously wasn't who she thought it would be.

"Here ye, here ye, I bringeth a delivery." a delivery man said dryly.

"Oh...a...a delivery?" Vanille questioned.

"Yeah. A Mr...Mr. Sazh Katzroy?" the delivery man said staring his clipboard. Vanille gasped.

"Well he is a Mr. Sazh Katzroy!" She said excitedly as she dragged one Hope Esthiem to the front.

"Fine. Sign here." the man handed over the clipboard and threw a pen at Hope. "Bring it up boys! This is the place!" the man yelled. Vanille stared at the paper. It read 'First, Middle, Last.'

"Hey, Hope? What's Sazh's middle name?" Vanille whispered to the boy who held the clipboard.

"Hmm...well I'm not sure." Hope admitted. Vanille thought for a moment. She began to sign the paper.

"Sazh...Tellah...Katzroy!" She said all giggles as she made a heart on the tail of the y. Two more delivery guys struggled up the stairs and threw a large box threw the doorway.

"Thank you for shopping the Mattress King, where our prices are a royal bargain." the delivery man said dryly again before heading quickly down the stairs for the next delivery. Vanille clapped her hands again.

"Look, Hope! Sazh got a delivery!" She said pointing to the giant box and therefore stating the obvious.

"Are you sure you should have signed for...well whatever this is before checking it?" Hope questioned examining the box.

"Well why not? Sazh will be so excited! Come on let's open it up!" Vanille chirped as she skipped into the kitchen to get a knife to pry this box open. After a gruesome ripping and stabbing episode, the contents of the box was revealed.

"What the..." Hope read the instruction sheet. "My pretty unicorn children's bed...Sazh ordered a...unicorn bed?" Hope questioned.

"Ooooh let's put it together for him! Oh, he'll be so excited Hope! I know where he keeps his tools!" Vanille said scampering off toward a closet that held all of Sazh's manly tools.

"But I don't think..." Hope had given up. Vanille was already tearing the closet apart pulling out tools.

FFXIII

Fang held her stinging cheek in shock before slowly returning her gaze up to Lightning. The Farron was on her feet and absolutely fuming.

"I guess that's a no."

"How could you!" Lightning shouted at her. "You're the reason why Cid and I broke up then you want to have us get together? Get real Fang!" she stormed off leaving Fang sitting there dumbfounded. A man at a nearby table leaned over, a cigarette in his mouth.

"Someone fucked up." he grinned, Fang pulled him downwards in a fit of rage before leaving herself.

FFXIII

Serah looked up shamefully. She had been caught.

"Are you..." Serah cut him off.

"Yes! Yes! I'm eating a bowl of shredded cheddar cheese like a crazy person! Don't judge me!" Searh whined as she crammed her mouth full of shredded cheddar goodness.

"I'm not judging you. Hell, I'll join you." Snow sat down across from her and joined in on the cheese-fest. "Have you ever done a Mad Lib?" he asked. Serah shook her head.

"It's been a while, but yeah." she answered.

"Okay, I've got one for ya. Hold on." Snow pulled a piece of paper from his pocket. "Alright...verb." Snow studied her as Serah inhaled the cheese.

"Mmm...cheese..." Serah answered.

"No, no...a verb." Snow repeated.

"Cheese could be a verb..." Serah insisted even though it most certainly couldn't be.

"Well, pick another one...like go. Pick go." Snow persuaded her.

"Very well, go." Serah said.

"Now, noun." Snow asked of her.

"Cheese!" Serah said, clearly having a one track mind.

"No! you can't use cheese for anything." Snow told her.

"Fine, then you put one in for me." Serah said barely coming up for air.

"Excellent." Snow said scribbling something onto the tablet. "Now give me a pronoun."

"Hmmm...I." Serah said pushing her bowl of cheese closer to Snow.

"No, pick me instead." Snow said writing 'me' into the blank.

"Do you want to do the mad lib for me?" Serah asked laughing.

"Yeah, that would make this a lot easier actually. Hold on a minute..." Snow said as he quickly wrote in some words. Serah continued to inhale her cheese. She swatted at his hand. "I thought you were sharing your cheese!" he said.

"I changed my mind." Serah said.

"Alright, it's done. You want me to read it to you?" Snow asked of her.

"Go for it." Serah said.

"It says...will you go out with me this weekend or sooner?" Snow said. Serah stopped eating her cheese and looked at Snow, her eyes wide with surprise. She could feel her face getting hot.

"Are you...asking me out?" she asked.

"Hey, I can't control what the mad libs say. I don't write these things." Snow said sarcastically. Serah laughed.

"So...what would you do...if I said yes...that I would love to go out with you. she asked.

"I would be excited as hell." Snow confessed.

"Okay, so what did you have in mind?" Serah asked.

"Let's start by taking a walk over to Sazh's. I'm sure he's home and not doing a whole lot. We can make plans from there. He winked at her. Serah pushed her now empty cheese bowl aside.

"Alright, let's go." she sad pushing her chair under the table.

FFXIII

At Sazh's apartment Vanille had a very large piece of paper unfolded and tools strung out all over the place. "No, Hope! You're shoving it in the wrong hole!" Vanille said excitedly.

"It's the right hole, I promise! It's just...a really tight fit. Here...spread these out farther and I'll shove it in...in one quick motion. It will be completely painless I swear." Hope said.

"Wait! Wait! I'll get on the bottom and hold on, it'll make it go in easier!" Vanille chirped. Hope sighed.

"Let's just...let's just do this and get it over with. Then we'll know what we're doing the next time. Are you ready I'm going to shove it in as hard a I can."

"Yes! Do it Hope! Shove it in!" Vanille said preparing for the worst. In one giant shove the stupid unicorn bed was finally put together. Hope stood up and put his hands on his hips.

"Wow...that's the first time I've ever done that. I think...I think was a really good job."

"Me too! Oh Hope, Sazh will be so excited!" Vanille clapped her hands.

"I don't know...we've made a huge mess with all these tools and packing plastic everywhere. He might be kinda' pissed with us. I'm sure Dajh makes a big enough mess around here without us adding to it." Hope said.

"I'll get the vacuum! We'll clean this up in no time!" Vanille said excitedly as she admired the fully assembled unicorn bed. Hope stashed the assembly instructions aside for the time being and began to pick everything up off the floor that Vanille shouldn't suck up into the sweeper.

FFXIII

Fang snarled as she kicked open a door to a bar that was a fair distance away from where Lightning had stormed off. She could have gone anywhere, but this place, this place was everyone's usual hang out place, if Lightning was that angry too, she would show up here later in the night.

"Scotch on the Rocks." she muttered, her drink was given to her rather quickly, a familiar bartender greeting her. Fang rolled her eyes.

"Thank Etro you're not Lebreau." Fang groaned as the barmaid smiled at her. "Tifa, I think I fucked up." Fang drained the drink and slammed the glass back down. "I shouldn't have told her."

"Lightning?" Tifa asked as she refilled her drink. "Sounds like a dozy."

"I'm an ass Teef, I'm an ass." Fang head hit the bar top rather quickly, the barmaid reached over and patted Fang on the head slowly.

FFXIII

"I want you to know that I'm not judging you because you grabbed more cheese on our way out the door." Snow told Serah. It was a pleasant evening, perfect for a walk to Sazh's. Serah laughed.

"I'm glad you aren't." Serah said cramming the last of it into her mouth.

"So, what do you wanna do this weekend?" he asked of her. Serah thought a moment.

"We could take the ferry somewhere." she said.

"Serah, the ferry only goes one place...but yeah, yeah we could totally do that." Snow said.

"What do you mean the ferry only goes one place?" she questioned.

"Well, it's a boat...it goes from dock A to dock B. it isn't a taxi that makes like, 27 stops in between." he explained. Serah thought about that for a moment.

"Huh...ya know...I've never actually thought of that but...yeah...yeah it does only make one stop." Serah deduced.

"But, seriously we should do that. This would be a great weekend for it." he reassured her. "Hey, should we tell Lightning?"

"No, no...definitely no. We can't have her flipping out and she's already on edge about something." she said.

FFXIII

"SURPRISE!" Vanille yelled at Sazh and Dajh as she and Hope lead them into Dajh's bedroom. Vanille clapped wildly. Poor little Dajh had a look of utter confusion on his face.

"Daddy, what's this?" he asked his father.

"Son, why don't you go into the other room and I'll uh...well you're ol' man will figure it all out." Sazh said patting the boy on the head.

"Okay." Dajh agreed and scampered away as his father told him to do. Hope could sense ill fate for he and Vanille.

" 'Aight...why the hell is there a unicorn bed up in my house?" he asked after Dajh was out of earshot.

"Vanille made me sign for it..." Hope said sheepishly as he grabbed for the papers to show Sazh the signature that Vanille had slapped on the paper.

"What the! Awww, 'Nille come on girl! I don't go signin' my name with no heart! You mean to tell me I'm stuck with a unicorn bed! My son wanted the space shuttle bed!" Sazh scolded her.

"But...but this bed will make all of Dajh's unicorn dreams come true!" Vanille said pretending to spread magical fairy dust all over Sazh.

"I...I tried to tell her this wasn't a good idea." Hope said. Sazh sighed.

"What's the return policy?" he asked. Hope nervously read the fine print.

"Yeeeaaah, about that...it says here that once you sign...it's yours..." he said a little scared at what Sazh might say.

"Tellah! Hell, that ain't my middle name! You mean to tell me, I'm stuck with unicorn bed for my son!" Sazh asked excitedly.

"Me and Hope put it together all by ourselves Sazh! We did such a good job! And it was all for Dajh!" Vanille said tugging on Sazh's arms in her attempts to get him to realize that she and Hope did this all as a good deed. Sazh sighed and scratched the back of his head again.

"I know, I know. You love the boy and wanted to make him and me happy. It's just...now I'm stuck with a unicorn bed!" Sazh said.

"You're stuck with a unicorn bed?" a voice behind him asked.

"Where'd you come from? Hey Serah, and, how'd you get in my place?" Sazh questioned as he looked at Snow.

"Your door was unlocked. I knocked...no one answered...I tried it...we came in. " Snow said.

"Wow that is...that's a unicorn bed." Serah said looking at the purple and white bed. "So, how exactly did you get stuck with a unicorn bed?"

"These two do-gooders!" Sazh said pointing to Vanille and Hope.

"I love it!" Snow said. At that moment all eyes were on Snow.

"Man...if you love it, you take it." Sazh said. "Dajh had his heart set on a space shuttle. Hey, what are you two doing anyway?"

FFXIII

"Fang, I think you've had enough." Tifa muttered, taking the glass away from Fang, the tanned woman was by no means sloshed, nor was she sober, but it was to a point if she had any more the poor woman would have to find Fang a ride home, and if she was fighting with the older Farron she had no free ride home.

"I'm not even started..." Fang groaned, but her forehead was pressed against the table so it didn't even matter.

"Fang, go home."

"Nuuuu."

"Fang." she said sternly. "Don't make me call." she stopped when the door opened again, it was customary to greet the clients, but her face fell when Lightning Farron walked in, with a look that she needed a strong drink.

This wasn't gonna be pretty.


End file.
